Western attitudes towards Chinese food have long been shaped by racism.
But those views are inaccurate and potentially dangerous.
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We ate seven plates of food.
…
Must be tripping off the MSG!
wed laughed at each other.
It wasnt until much later that I realized this story isnt a joke.
Just last week, eight peopleincluding six Asian womenwereshot and killed in Atlanta, Georgiaat three different spas.
As many Asians like myself experience firsthand, ethnic food is often at the epicenter of racial trauma.
Coronavirus-fueled racism feels like no exception.
Yet the label Chinese food condenses 56 ethnic groupswhose culture is generally split intoeight recognized regional cuisinesinto one term.
Barbecue spareribs and egg rolls are both American inventions.
In reality, health is intrinsic to traditional Chinese food.
…
Principlessimilar to the Ayurvedicapply to many Chinese dishes.
Pork ribs are more often boiled in soups than glazed.
Yet fears of MSG and Chinese restaurant syndrome persist.
Originally, it was made by extracting crystals from seaweed broth.
These days, its commercially formed byfermenting starch, molasses, sugar beets or cane.
The moreishness of Vegemitea popular savory spread from Australiais owed to hydrolyzed yeast, another glutamate.
The lateAnthony Bourdainput it best: You know what causes Chinese restaurant syndrome?
At the Lunar New Year, a whole salted egg yolk glowswithin some mooncakes.
Yet I, like many others, still spent years perpetuating an unfair and false narrative.
These persistent falsehoods have consequences.
Entire businesses marketingclean Chinese foodcapitalize on damaging, false assumptions that so many marginalized people have suffered under.
And of course, there is the racist-fueled violence that continues to harm East and Southeast Asians.
No one is exemptnot even me, literally fed the truth from a young age.
But fortunately, everyone has the capacity to learn from listening.
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